My niece is an Environmental Science major in college right now. With all the new information she's learning, she recently decided to become a vegetarian because of the negative impact meat production has on the environment. Unfortunately, her new diet has consisted of pretty much nothing but pasta. She's subsequently feeling quite run down.

She recently came home for a weekend, and her mother and I put our heads together to come up with easy, healthful recipes that will better meet my niece's nutritional needs. My niece and sister spent most of the weekend in the kitchen, and my niece went back to school with freezer containers filled with healthful, balanced meals.

Several of the recipes they prepared contain edamame. Just a half cup of edamame has 10 grams of protein. Shape magazine has a recipe for Italian Edamame that sounds absolutely delicious. The edamame is paired with brown rice, herbs, and other veggies such as zucchini, red bell pepper, tomatoes, and onion. You've got to try it. And then check out Martha's post about other vegetarian sources of protein.

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We all have body fat. It's necessary for proper body function. While a healthy percentage of body fat varies greatly, according to the American College of Sports Medicine a healthy range for women under 40 is 20-35%, for men 8-22%. (The ranges change for those over 40 and for fitness standards.)

But a recent study reveals that one fat cell isn't necessarily like another. In obese people, fat cells appear "sick."

Compared to fat cells taken from lean people, the fat cells from obese people were deficient in several ways. For example, the endoplasmic reticulum -- which helps cells synthesize proteins -- was stressed in the fat cells of obese people. This stress of the endoplasmic reticulum could inhibit or change the body's production of protein and could lead to insulin resistance (a contributing factor for obesity).

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New research out of Britain this week as researchers there stated that they have identified immune system proteins that may end up becoming early warning indicators of impending lung cancer.

Prevention and testing are generally keys to surviving any ailment, but those two terms are especially important in cancer cases. The ability to have an operable tumor or body-wide cancer spreading are in two completely difference universes -- and early detection is a large key in many cases.

The research centered on the detection of several 'autoantibodies,' which are used by the immune system as a precursor to certain bodily ailments. Researchers found that very high levels of at least one autoantibody were found in nearly 80 percent of the blood samples from lung cancer patients who participated in the study.

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It's odd to find a protein or any bodily object that can help promote a tan and also block cancer development, but a study out of Boston has concluded that exactly that is possible.

The protein promotes a good tan (which fights skin damage by overexposure to the sun) as well as helps protect against skin cancer melanomas. The head author of the study said that "The number one risk factor for melanoma is an inability to tan." How very true that is.

Are you dark or light-skinned? If dark skinned (known as olive skinned, generally), your propensity to develop skin cancer due to melanoma is much lower than light-skinned folks, who tend to need extra protection from the sun.

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